


Pretended to Pretend

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Get together fic, M/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 15:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9663170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: anon prompted jarchie+fake relationship au w/ a happy end





	

**Author's Note:**

> ahh, my fave trope. this is nothing but silly cuteness, had a lot of fun writing it.
> 
> enjoy!

“I need you to date me. For a weekend.”

Archie looks up, then makes a show of looking around as though searching for someone else Jughead might be talking to.

“Stop that,” Jughead chides with a swift kick to Archie’s shin. “I’m serious.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Archie replies. “But _why_ do you need me to date you? For a weekend?”

Jughead groans. He groans and practically flings himself onto Archie’s bed, face down so his words are muffled by the blankets. Archie is sitting in his desk chair, guitar perched in his lap. He lets the mumbling continue for a while but eventually he’s so lost, he doesn’t know where to begin.

“Sit up, start over.” He nudges Jughead’s leg until the other lays on his back instead, staring at the ceiling.

“Some cousin is getting married, mom says we have to go. Every time I see my extended family they grill me about who I’m dating, all that typical garbage, and I really don’t want to deal with it.” He pulls his hat down over his eyes and groans again. “It’s obnoxious.”

“Yeah.” Archie nods in agreement, all the while strumming his guitar idly. “Why me, though? Why not, like, Betty or Ronnie?”

Jughead shrugs. “You’re my best friend.”

Archie could pick that answer apart, probe deeper and get a better answer out of his friend. He chooses not to. “Okay. When?”

Jughead lifts his had enough to peek at Archie with one eye. “You’ll do it?”

“Probably. I could use some more details first, though.”

“Uh, alright.” Jughead sits up. “It’s in two weeks. We’ll drive down the night before, and drive home the morning after the wedding. Hope you don’t mind being cooped up in a car with me and my parents for a while.”

“Nah, it’ll be fun.” Archie keeps playing his guitar, foot tapping to an uneven beat and nodding his head in time. “I figure we have to dress nice?”

Jughead nods.

“And, since I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, we’re probably gonna have to dance.”

Jughead’s scandalized expression tells Archie he hadn’t even _thought_ of that. Instead of replying, Jughead groans a third time and falls back against the bed. Faintly, Archie is pretty sure he hears a mumble of _“kill me,”_ but he ignores it in favor of laughing.

 

“So,” Archie starts, reigning in a snicker at Jughead’s startle. “We haven’t been approached by a single relative all night. In fact, they seem suspiciously uncaring of who you’re with.” The words aren’t unkind, but they are true. No curious aunts or gossipy uncles have come by to pester Jughead about his relationship status. Not that it’s stopped Archie from holding Jughead’s hand, or staying unnecessarily close to him the entire night.

“Yeah, about that…” Jughead lets the sentence fade out and he doesn’t look over at Archie.

The song shifts from a slightly upbeat pop song to a slower, incessantly romantic drivel. Jughead blinks and suddenly Archie is standing in front of him. Hand extended, smile wide, Archie jerks his head toward the half-full dancefloor.

“You owe me a dance, I think.”

Jughead opens his mouth to argue, then thinks better of it. He lets Archie pull him out of the chair and tug him toward the other couples. Jughead keeps quiet and lets Archie arrange them as he pleases: meaning Archie’s hands on Jughead’s hips, and vice versa. It’s pleasantly non-gender conforming and pleasantly weird at the same time.

“Gonna explain?” Archie asks as they move in small circles.

Jughead looks up at the ceiling. “It may have been a ploy.”

“No,” Archie gasps, “a _ploy_?” He laughs at the pout that forms on Jughead’s face. “Never would’ve guessed.”

“I may or may not have asked you here as a way to force myself to finally admit my feelings, and it’s gone horrifically wrong, so can we please pretend it never happened?”

Archie stops dancing and Jughead trips over his feet.

“What the hell, man?” Jughead snaps, looking down at their shoes. “What’d you stop for?”

“Why do you think this has gone horrifically wrong?”

Jughead’s eyebrows draw together. “Because, it has?”

Archie slowly resumes their dancing, pulling Jughead along with only a little bit of resistance. “You’ve been holding my hand for almost two days straight, you’ve managed to tell me about your apparently long-hidden feelings for me, and I’m gonna tell you about how I feel the same.” He pretends to think about it. “Don’t see how that can be classified as horrifically wrong.”

Jughead stops this time. “What?”

“What?”

Jughead shoves at Archie, no malice behind the move. “You’re joking.”

“Oh, definitely,” Archie agrees. “All a _ploy_ ,” he mimics. He gestures Jughead close and takes him by the hips as soon as their bodies are close enough. “Well, I mean, it kind of was. I had a sneaking suspicion you were making this up, but I went along with it anyway for my own selfish benefit.”

Jughead eyes him warily. “And if I hadn’t let it slip that I like you _that_ way?”

“Would’ve at least gotten to hold your hand for a couple days, which is pretty nice.”

“Oh my god, you’re a sap.” Jughead slaps Archie on the shoulder. “You’re a complete sap!” His raised voice earns them some stares, but neither pay the attention any mind. “I cannot believe…”

“That you’re utterly in love with a total sap?” Archie finishes. “I’d buy it.”

Jughead rolls his eyes. “Sap,” he says again.

“ _Your_ sap,” he amends. It’s totally worth it for the grin and blush that light up Jughead’s face, even if it earns him a flick on the ear.


End file.
